Weekly Wrap-Up - May 12

This was a BUSY week! I'm still trying to catch my breath . . . 

At the beginning of the week we were still at my parents' house, so we'll start there.

Sunday was the Maryland Sheep and Wool festival! We've gone several times, and it's always alot of fun! My parents came with us. We watched the sheep dog demonstration, and sheep shearing, then Papa, took Little Bit to see all the sheep, and the big girls, and Mama and I went shopping :) It's kinda fun that they are old enough to want to wander through all the vendors with me now :) MiniMe wanted to learn how to do every handcraft she saw :) I finally started making a list for her in Evernote LOL. Sassy was more selective, but joined in as well.

Monday we visited our friends Monica & Eric. They have 4 kids, and some mutual friends were there as well. Between the 4 families represented there were 15 kids :) The kids had a BLAST fishing, catching salamanders and tadpoles, cooking hotdogs over a campfire, exploring in the woods, and hunting for fossils. Here are some pictures from our day:

Cooking hot dogs for lunch

Little Bit tried fishing.

MiniMe and Sassy had no problem touching the fish!

Little Bit didn't have the patience to catch her own fish, so she snuck into the picture of one of Sassy's :)\ 

Tuesday we headed home from Mama and Papa's with a stop at another friend's house on our way home. We hadn't been over to Kim's house for awhile, so Little Bit didn't really remember the kids, but before we left, she and Z were best of friends :)

When we got home Tuesday night, we had to check out the caterpillar/worms on our bushes. Penny had noticed them while we were gone, and told us to be sure to check them out. They are COVERING the branches of one kind of bushes (and stripping it, but it was a bush that I wasn't sure I wanted to keep anyway, so I can live with it).  Since Daddy was home, I left the kids at home with him and headed to the grocery store to get a few essentials. By the time I got home, they'd googled and figured out that the worms were sawflies worms, and what kind of bushes they are on, and that they turn into things that look kind of like wasps but are harmless . . .so guess we had science class that day LOL.

Wednesday, E & J came over to join us for school. It was rainy, so we did some more of the art video we're reviewing.

Wednesday afternoon when MiniMe went to get the mail, she called me over, there were MILLIONS of ants in the mailbox moving eggs or larvae around and "storing" it in the folds of a food drive paper bag that was part of the day's mail.  I'm still at a loss as to why the ants decided to live IN the mailbox all of a sudden, and how they SO QUICKLY decided the folds of the mail was a good house . . .Sassy had gotten the mail the evening before and there weren't any noticeable ants then, so it was all very fast. Was cool to be able to see though.

Thursday was music lessons, I couldn't resist catching Little Bit being quiet and calm for once :) She'd been drawing, and then was waiting for me to take a picture of her drawing, and I snuck this pick in too. I LOVE it! :)

Thursday evening I left for CHAP (homeschool convention). Little Bit was NOT at all happy about me leaving for so long. She doesn't even like me to go to the grocery store without her. But she handled it pretty well. She sent me off with several of her toys "to remember me by" :) I got her a new puzzle and wrapped each piece individually with a little note and put times on them, so that by the time the puzzle was done I'd be home (or stuck in traffic, LOL). I think that helped alot, and the big girls did a good job of "playing mommy" and helping her out.

Friday, Rodney took the girls to Grandmom's. I had a busy day of curriculum shopping and seminars at CHAP. It was fun, and I was able to get the Life of Fred math books that we needed, and alot of other ideas and such :)

I am so proud of how the big girls stepped up while I was gone. MiniMe asked me, before I left, how to make coffee, so she could make it for Daddy while I was gone. Sassy, knowing that Daddy usually leaves for church later than us (long story, but our SS class starts earlier than his), "bribed" him, by telling him she'd make him eggs for breakfast if he got up on time :) Both girls helped with Little Bit. Sassy can't find her iPod at the moment (sigh), but MiniMe had hers, so all 3 girls could e-mail me from that.

They were finishing up the chocolate chip pancakes they'd made for supper when I got home Sat. evening. Little Bit had been so busy that she hadn't opened her last couple of puzzle pieces :) Sassy was very excited to have her Life of Fred math books! She ran right upstairs and started doing math :) and MiniMe started reading one of the Sonrise Stable books I'd gotten.

After I read one of Little Bit's new books to her, we went up and played with her puzzle some more :)

So that was our week.